RCYC Super Saturday 2023 – races 3 & 4

19 boats took advantage of the perfect weather for sailing in the second round of RCYC Super Saturday Series.

The Otters were represented by a strong fleet of 10 boats, including 5 Cadets, eager to put into practice the lessons learned during the Cadet Selector event, earlier last month.

The race officer set up a triangle course, starting easterly from the club line, to Fairway 5 and then to Fairway 7, before heading through a gate at the north end of the line.

The start of the first race saw the 4 Blazes shaking off the Laser Radials and Robert Coyle was the first to round the windward mark, followed by Malcom Hutchings, Alex Porteous and Nick Milton.

This was not to last and Malcolm took advantage of his superior downwind technique and earned the first bullet of the day.

He was followed by Robert, Nick and Alex.

James Hutton-Penman sailed extremely well in his Laser Radial and beat James VanSchagen’s Aero 9 to the fifth place.

Ralph and Ryan Surguy won the slow fleet race, beating the Cadets by a whopping 13 minutes.

Despite troubles at the start, due to lack of wind, the Cadets fleet enjoyed a closely fought race and a lot of position changes, with Matthew Corrigan and Sammy Buckley taking first.

Everything seemed to go Nick’s way in the second race, when the wind strength increase propelled him to a blazing start.

A tactical blunder gave Malcolm the chance to sneak past at the gybe mark, while Nick was busy avoiding a Cadet.

Malcolm did not let the opportunity go to waste and won the second bullet of the day, followed by Nick and Robert.

James had another very good race, this time at the expense of Alex and finished in 4th.

Ralph and Ryan, on their Feva XL, won the slow fleet race, with the Cadets only one minute behind.

The Cadets race, yet another closely disputed affair, saw Matthew and Sammy as the eventual winners.

James Hutton-Penman not only demonstrated a new way of hiking, but also kept his place at the top of the table, something that a particular football team from North London can only dream of.

A big thank you goes out to all of the volunteers from the RCYC and Otters, without whose help these events could not happen.